


Underneath The Lights Of The Motorway, That's Where I Go To Keep Your Ghost Away

by Candles_93



Category: Raven Cycle - Maggie Stiefvater
Genre: M/M, Post canon, adam goes to college, boys being bad at talking about feelings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-28
Updated: 2017-12-28
Packaged: 2019-02-23 01:28:46
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,397
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13179480
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Candles_93/pseuds/Candles_93
Summary: Adam goes to college. Ronan deals with it in a very Ronan way. Eventually they sort it out.





	Underneath The Lights Of The Motorway, That's Where I Go To Keep Your Ghost Away

**Author's Note:**

> Title from the song Last Young Renegade by All Time Low.
> 
> this is short and something that got stuck in my head.

Once Adam gets his acceptance letter Ronan knows it’s the beginning of the end for them. At first he’s angry, they’ve only just begun and now he can feel their time together limited. But then he checks himself, and knows this is everything Adam has been working for and Ronan is so goddamn proud of him, even if he will never truly understand it. Then he’s miserable, feeling like every kiss is just a countdown until their last one.

By Summer he’s accepted it, even if he and Adam have never actually spoken about it, it feels inevitable. Ronan is going to stay and Adam is going to school seven hours away. During the Summer they both start to pull away, Adam is getting ready to move to school and Ronan tries to keep busy on the farm.

A week before he leaves, Ronan brings it up.

“College is going to be a pretty big deal” Ronan begins, they are sprawled across different chairs in the living room, Adam with a book in his lap, Ronan watching the TV on low.

“Yeah, i’m getting pretty nervous about going” Adam admits, sending a small smile Ronan’s way.

“I was thinking, college is supposed to be this huge experience, and you’ll be meeting lots of people and doing new things, you shouldn’t have anything to hold you back” Ronan tries to keep his eyes on Adam but it’s too difficult, he finds himself staring at the TV instead. The silence is just a beat too long, and for a moment Ronan thinks Adam is going to laugh and tell him not to be stupid.

“You’re saying we should break up” It’s a statement not a question. 

“You never wanted to come back to this town, and I don’t know if i’ll ever leave, so go make that new life you always wanted, don’t let anything get in your way” Ronan finally looked back to Adam, to see him looking right back, no emotion on his face. Finally he huffed out a breath that wasn’t quite a laugh, looking back down at the book in his lap.

“Yeah, us doing long distance? You can’t even use a phone” Adam’s lips tugged up in the corner, a sham of a smile and Ronan felt the expression reflected on his own face. 

“So next week, when you leave…” Ronan couldn’t finish the sentence.

Adam nodded back, already knowing, “Yeah”

And just like that the countdown had begun.  
\---

The next week it felt like every kiss was harder, rougher, like they were trying to memorise every feeling and taste. Like they couldn’t go five minutes without touching each other, a hand on a waist, an arm around a shoulder. And at night it was like their hands were everywhere, Ronan was trying to remember every single freckle across Adam’s skin and how it felt under his mouth. 

But the week still passed, and the end still came. Adam packed his few belongings into a shitty suitcase and a box and packed it into his car. Ronan was never good at goodbyes.

Adam kissed him hard, it almost hurt, but Ronan gave back as much as he could, if this was it, this was the last. And then Adam was pulling away, giving him a small smile and a wave and he got into his shit box car and drove away from Ronan forever. Ronan watched the car until he couldn’t anymore, and then the mist came down over his eyes and he tried to pretend he wasn’t crying as he went about the farm doing his chores. Opal tried to cheer him up by bringing him gifts, he didn’t know if anything but time could fix this, and even then it was a long shot.

Ronan found himself in his car the night after Adam left. He couldn’t sleep in that bed alone anymore. Everywhere felt like it had a piece of Adam and at night the house became claustrophobic with the memories of them. So he did what he did best, and he drove. Down motorways and abandoned dirt roads. Needle on the dashboard inching higher and higher. The radio turned on low, not even his own music, just some late night radio host and top forty songs that blurred into one another. The lights overhead whipping by faster and faster. Here Ronan could think, and also not think at all. He would turn back home when he was so exhausted he would just end up comatose on the couch.

A week passed of the same routine. Ronan dealt with the farm. Opal brought him gifts. Ronan drove. He never heard from Adam.

He got one text after Adam first left, letting him know he arrived on campus. And then nothing. Which is what he expected, it didn’t make it hurt any less though.

On the seventh night, Ronan had been driving for far longer than usual. It was the middle of the night, the roads were empty. And he was miserable. He couldn’t deny it any longer, he missed Adam so much he could barely function. He was a wreck. He had no idea how Adam was doing, and maybe that was the worst part. They broke up, it didn’t mean they had to completely cease communicating. For once in his life Ronan was going to be a goddamn grownup and he was going to text Adam back and ask how he was doing.

Ronan pulled onto the side of the road, his heart was racing, his blood pumping, this was better than any driving rush he had ever had. He was going to hear from Adam again if it killed him. And that’s when Ronan remembered he’d left his phone at home.

“Shit” He cursed, thumping the steering wheel. He pulled out a map, to figure out where he was and start the journey back home. And that’s when he realised, he’d been driving for a little over three hours, and was now exactly halfway between Adam’s school and back home. He knew exactly where Adam lived, had heard him chattering away all Summer about selecting halls and his new roommate and all the different parts of campus.

It was barely a decision. Ronan spun the car back onto the road, and headed straight towards Adam.

\---

Ronan found the right residence easily enough, and was inside and wandering around corridors quickly. Really shitty security here, he was going to have to tell Adam about that. Oh god, Adam. He really hadn’t thought this through, just showing up on his door step. Adam hated surprises, especially if they were going to interfere with his schooling. No going back now though, Ronan was here, and he’d found the right door number. He really hoped he wasn’t about to get punched.

He knocked lightly on the door, knowing it was still a little early for most people. He heard shuffling inside and held his breath. The door swung open slowly, and there Adam was, sleep rumpled and squinting confused in the light of the hallway. 

When he saw Ronan his eyes widened, arms going to his sides slack. Ronan opened his mouth to say something, a greeting, an apology, an argument, he wasn’t sure yet. But then Adam was throwing his arms around him, pulling him close and shoving his face into his neck.

“I missed you” Adam breathed, muffled by Ronan’s jacket, “You better be here because you realised what a stupid idea breaking up was” He pulled back to look Ronan in the face, and Ronan could see tears shining in his eyes.

“I thought it was what you wanted” Ronan’s voice sounded scratchy to his own ears, too much emotion building up inside of him.

“No!” Adam sniffled, “I just want you”

That was all the confirmation Ronan needed before he leaned in and captured Adam’s lips with his own. God how he’d missed this.

“I can’t sleep in the bed without you” He admitted, and Adam let out a choked laugh dragging him into his room and scrambling with his jacket.

“Well I can fix that for tonight, we can work on the rest, and I’ll be home for Christmas, ok?” Adam smiled as he pulled Ronan into the small single bed, snuggling up against him.

“Ok” Ronan replied, already feeling himself drift off. He could work with that.


End file.
